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Use It Up Close Up

As a result of my food de-cluttering I have half a shelf of food that needs using up. I threw away the lime juice -there was no way I was going to use it before its use-by date, the green peppercorns -after trying one and discovering it tasted like spicy disinfectant and the tahini which was very old.

I tackled my dried fruit mountain first.

Figs, prunes and dates. Mixed with marmalade to make a chunky fruit cake adapted from a recipe in River Cottage Everyday by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. I was also able to use up the last bit of wholemeal flour.

Next, the many half-full bags of nuts I seem to have collected.

Roasted for 20 mins at 180°c/160°c fan ( mine were a bit overdone) and doused with soy sauce as soon as they came out of the oven. Very moreish.

I shall be using up the jar of wholegrain mustard tomorrow in a creamy chicken dish. I finished the coconut cream in a curry on Wednesday. I'm getting through it.

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The other day I mentioned that I was thinking about buying a macro lens. Well I've stopped thinking about it and done it. I took all the photos for this post with it. I'm not sure I'm using it properly yet but I'm having fun.

By the way, in answer to James who asked me what kind of light I use for my photos, I use natural light and if they turn out too dark, something that often happens on a winter's evening, I lighten them using the photo editing software which came with my camera. I never use the flash and I have the camera set on aperture priority. As for styling I just put the food in a bowl or on a plate and get in close.